Naya the witch hunter

Odd Companion

She pulled on the Arcana within her core and created a small purple sphere in front of her finger.

After powering a spell, Arcana becomes highly volatile, and outside of magic circles, only someone with her abilities can control it, even then not for long. Naya preferred to tame the power only to amplify its wild nature to form powerful projectiles.

She pointed at where she heard the footsteps stop. With a thought, she calms the wild Arcana in the sphere to create a projectile that wouldn't explode on impact. Naya felt the Arcana threatening to leave her control.

Her hands glowed, and she released it.

The sphere flashes forward, leaving a purple trail as it rips a small hole in the wooden wall of the house.

Naya didn't waste any time; she rushed forward and kicked the door open. Her hands glowed, and she created a thin purple layer to cover them, ready to meet resistance.

Contrary to Naya's expectations, the witch showed no signs of injury. She looked at the exit hole of the purple sphere, and Naya looked at it as well.

The Arcana within it would vanish immediately; she doubted it reached far from the house before dissipating. To where she had no idea. The mystery of Arcana alludes even her people.

She snapped her head back to the witch, who was still staring at the perfect hole in her wall.

"That was dangerous." The witch spoke with a light, uncaring tone.

She turned to look at Naya and opened her mouth to speak before her mouth snapped shut. She looked to Naya's long ears, and her face twisted in disgust, "Elf."

Coming from what Naya considered a vile being and from a mortal race, that stare enraged her, "Revolting witch, you will die here for your sins." Naya spoke with a gentle but cold voice.

Though she had no idea how the witch survived her projectile, it did not matter. She wasn't one to enjoy sneak attacks anyway.

"Sins?!" The witch removed her dark hood, allowing Naya to see her features.

It did not move Naya. The witch had short, unnatural orange hair and similarly colored eyes. The unnatural further disgusted her, as those unnatural colors, outside of her own race, were the sign of a devil contract.

Naya had no intention to explain herself, and the witch picked up on that.

"Ha!" The witch scoffs, "Arrogant Elf, your skull will make a fine deterrent to add to my collection."

Naya didn't care to argue. She launched herself at the witch with a loud burst, her body slightly tilted forward and her arm raised to deliver a slicing blow.

However, when her arm sliced through, nothing but the sound of air hit Naya's ears, and the witch's body vanished. Shadow magic? There was a c***k in the air as a black tendril snapped at Naya from behind the phased image of the witch.

Naya smirked and whipped her hand out to grab it, and the tendril instantly shattered as the black Arcana flowed into her body.

"What are you?" She heard the witch's voice, and the more she heard, the more it grated her.

Naya turned back; the witch was now standing on the opposite side of the room, in front of a door Naya assumed led to her bedroom. Black tendrils rose from her shadow and squirmed in the air around her. Disgusting.

The tendrils gave Naya pause, but only for a moment. She took in her status and felt the small amount of Arcana given to her by absorbing the beast and the tendril. It wasn't much, but it should easily be enough to handle what she knew was such a low-caliber witch.

She glanced at her arms, a confident smirk on her lips; the purple lines on her hands had grown past her wrist now, going slightly up her forearm.

"Your end," Naya answered the witch's question.

The witch's mouth opened, but Naya wasn't having any of that. She launched forward again and instantly appeared in the witch's radius, into the range of the shadowy tendrils.

The tendrils could have been a problem, but not one Naya couldn't handle. The witch evidently lacked control, as when one snapped at her, the others would freeze as if uncontrolled. She must have just recently contracted. When one snapped at her, Naya would flash her hand to shatter it and absorb the little Arcana.

Naya wanted to shatter all of them, to break the witch's spirit.

Flashes of black and purple and the sound of air cracking filled the room as the witch's face twisted into one of horror. No matter how fast she'd launch a tendril, Naya's speed would instantly catch it. Evidently, Naya was correct; she had yet to master her Devil's power.

The purple lines on Naya's arms reached her biceps, and her eyes glowed a bright purple as she coldly stared at the witch who wasn't doing anything with the last tendril.

Her face was one of abject horror as she stared at Naya's glowing eyes. Good, this is how a witch should look.

Naya stepped forward and snapped her hand out to grab the last tendril, shattering it and absorbing the Arcana.

The witch stumbled back, only to hit the wall, "W-wait..."

"No," A purple light flashed in Naya's hand, and the witch's body fell to the ground.

This had been Naya's first fight, and she knew it wasn't a real battle since any powerful witch would not have their home in such a place. Still, it filled her with confidence since she managed to kill her 2nd witch, though the time it took left her wanting.

Her thoughts were broken when a black orb slowly rose from the witch's corpse. Naya jumped back; she had no idea what that was.

The orb hovered above the dead witch's body, pulsing slightly.

Naya waited a moment to observe it, but it didn't do anything other than hover up and down in the air. Oh well. Her goal wasn't to investigate them; it was to kill them.

Her mood was excellent, with a giant smile etched after her recent victory. Soon, Mother.

She prepared to leave the house; she'd inform the village of the witch's death, and they could deal with it.

You stupid Elf, you must take it!

The voice of a young girl resounded, "Come out!" Naya instantly commanded. She looked at the witch's lifeless body, confirming with her senses that she was dead.

The voice's laugh echoed in her head. In my head...

"What sort of magic is this?!" Naya had never seen or heard of any magic capable of infiltrating an Elf's mind, which brought her no small amount of panic